As it stands now, fiber optic cables provide the fastest broadband Internet to homes. I would know. I flipped out when it increased my regular Internet speeds by 15 times.

Researchers at the University of Southampton in the UK are pushing the possibilities of fiber even farther to the near-ridiculous limits of 99.7 percent of the speed of light. If you think that's fast, wait until you hear that this hollow fiber optic cable can put out data speeds of 10 terabytes per second.

Now that you have a fresh pair of trousers, we can tell you that the UK scientists pulled this off by hollowing out the inside of a regular fiber optic cable and filling it with air.

Scientists already knew that air-filled fiber cables can increase the speed of data transmission via light, but previous attempts have always resulted in data loss whenever the cables had to turn a corner. To fix this issue, the researchers improved the design of their hollow fiber tubes that limits the data loss to an acceptable 3.5 decibels per kilometer.

The researchers say these speeds would never be possible with a regular fiber optic cable because the silica glass causes the light to travel 31 percent slower than the full speed of light in a vacuum (186,282 miles per second speed or 299,792,458 meters per second).

This all sounds great, but we don't expect to see these 10 terabyte per second speeds coming to our homes anytime soon. Most likely, these blistering fiber optic cables will first be used in data centers with racks of supercomputers.

Slideshows

ARN Exchange: Channel discusses security spending priorities

Customers spending priorities, drawing up a security strategy for customers and partners, detailing how partners can increase profit through security and outlining key areas of market growth ahead were some of the topics discussed at the ARN Exchange event in Sydney. Partners got together to talk about the spending priorities of customers within the security market today and the skills required from partners to deliver those services. The event was in association with Juniper Networks, Webroot, Cloud Plus and Mimecast. Photos by Christine Wong.

What are the spending priorities of customers within the security market today and what are the skills required from partners to deliver those services? An overview of the security market in Australia was debated in the ARN Exchange event in Melbourne with discussions covering the customers spending priorities, drawing up a security strategy for customers and partners, detailing how partners can increase profit through security and outlining key areas of market growth ahead. The event was in association with Juniper Networks, Webroot, Cloud Plus and Mimecast. Photos by Raymond Korn.

The channel came together for the forth running of the ARN Emerging Leaders Forum in Australia, created to provide a program that identifies, educates and showcases the upcoming talent of the ICT industry.
Hosted as a half day forum, attendees heard from industry specialists as keynoters and panellists discussed leadership paths and career choices. Hall of Fame members and industry mentors​ hosted small groups of future leaders to mentor and advise.
This also marked ARN's inaugural 30 Under 30 Tech Awards, which recognised young talent in the Australian IT industry across technical, sales, marketing, management, human resources and entrepreneur categories.
Photos by Christine Wong.

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